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StarLeaf |
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April 15, 2013 Issue |
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The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information |
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Bringing to market HD Video Calling and Conferencing Solutions Managed from the Cloud, StarLeaf is delivering Solutions that allow Mid-Sized and Smaller Companies to deploy Collaboration Video Across their Team at Economical Price Points |
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StarLeaf delivers HD video
calling and conferencing solutions, managed from the cloud that anyone can
use and deploy without training or IT support. Designed for today’s
workforce, the StarLeaf solution is completely open and yet secure, and
connects anyone-to-anyone, on-demand, providing individuals and teams all
the flexibility they need to collaborate while on the move, at the office or
from home. We offer our solution at price points that make it economical for
businesses of any size to recognize all the benefits of video collaboration.
He joined StarLeaf directly from his position as Vice President of Product Management at Tandberg, where he translated Tandberg’s strategic vision and direction into the world’s market-leading video conferencing infrastructure solutions. Mark joined Tandberg through the acquisition of Codian in 2007, where he served as Vice President of Product Management and Marketing.
Prior to joining Codian in 2004, Mark held engineering and senior management positions at Cisco Systems, Calista and Madge Networks. He has a Masters degree in Electronic and Information Sciences from Cambridge University. |
HD Video Conferencing
StarLeaf 408-689-0448
StarLeaf Print Version
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Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – April 15, 2013
CEOCFO: Mr. Loney, would you tell us the vision at StarLeaf? Mr. Loney: At StarLeaf, we are really all about empowering people to change the way they work for the better; give them more flexibility and make them more efficient in their working lives. One way in which this can be achieved is through better uses of collaboration. Therefore, not just relying on the phone to connect with team members, across the organization, or customer suppliers, but to us better collaboration involves seeing the person or people you are talking to, not just hearing them. Therefore, it is collaboration using video, not just voice. In all that we do we focus on the ease of use and the ease of deployments, so that everything that we produce is usable, practical and affordable. In terms of what we deliver, we have a video calling and conferencing solution managed from the cloud that anyone can deploy and use without training or IT support, and that is crucial. For the individual use, we have a broad range of devices, including software that runs on tablets and PCs.
CEOCFO: How do your solutions differ from some of the others that are readily available? Mr. Loney: In many ways, what really matters to the end user is that whatever they have available is usable – meaning that it is easy to use, and is great quality. One of the key differentiators for us is that we have a model where everything is managed from the cloud. Typically, for an organization wanting to start out using video, there are some pretty high hurdles that you have to cross to get started. For instance, if you want to start small with a few people or a few conference rooms, you will need to invest in a huge amount of equipment to get started. With our solution it is as simple as getting started with one or two systems, and scale from there without the need to purchase expensive equipment that you need to own and manage.
CEOCFO: What is the prevalence of video use today? Is it still not fully accepted and implemented? What is the opportunity for you? Mr. Loney: The opportunity is absolutely huge. Typically, video gets used the larger enterprises who have made an investment in all of the expensive pieces that have traditionally been needed to run video within an organization. Due to barriers, many of the mid sized companies and smaller companies just have not really started to use video. Our solution does not have any of the cost and complexity barriers, making it ideal for businesses of any size to deploy video across their teams.
CEOCFO: How do you reach potential customers so that they are aware that you exist, and that you do have a solution that really can work for their level? Mr. Loney: Our focus is principally on the mid sized and the smaller organizations. However, along the way we do come across larger organizations with projects. Therefore, our solution is very broadly based. In a way that makes it more of a challenge to pick particular niches or targets to go after. All of our sales are done through our partners, resellers and distributors, who are spread around the world. We have presence on the web, we utilize social media for outreach, and we make our solution available for individuals to try. We go to trade shows, as we are doing next week in Orlando, and we engage in a broad range of activities.
CEOCFO: Most companies will say that their systems are easy to use. How do you insure the ease of use, when you are so close to it and can do everything related to it intuitively? How do you insure that anyone can work on this with really no technical skill? Mr. Loney: That is a great question, Lynn. When we were devising our solution we really thought long and hard about the user of the system and the people within the workplace who will be using the system. Those of us involved in the technology sector often get hung up with the latest and greatest gadgets, and we tend to forget about the majority who are just not into the latest gadgets. Therefore, for us, choosing an interface that was intuitive was really important. I know that we all say that it is intuitive, but we have actually delivered something that really is. Our model for the users is something that looks, feels and works just like an ordinary telephone. The device has a handset, it has the traditional keypad, and it is coupled with a touchscreen to allow greater functionality. Therefore, the user experience is very much a smart phone. In all of the people that we have shown it to, everyone just loves it, because it is so familiar and not frightening, and everyone can use it without any training whatsoever.
CEOCFO: Is the quality of the video dependent on the computer it works on? How do you overcome older equipment or computers or devices that are not optimal? Mr. Loney: We put a lot of engineering effort into optimizing the software that we deploy on desktops and tablets to really get the best out of the system that we have available. Really, any reasonably modern laptop or computer is just fine for video. If we come across something that is really old then the software intelligently works out that it is not going to be able to video and will adjust to a voice call. However, those cases are few and far between in the modern world.
CEOCFO: What is your revenue model? Mr. Loney: We sell the service. We have a recurrent revenue model where a user chooses how many systems they would like; whether it is just software, whether it is a desktop system, or a room system. For that, they pay us a service fee. On top of that, if someone wants a hardware-based device for their desktop in their office or their home office, or a hardware-based device for their conference room, then they pay us for that device in addition to the service.
CEOCFO: How is business? Mr. Loney: Business is absolutely great! I think that we are in a great position where we have a very distinctive pitch. We are the only manufacturer and service provider in the industry and that gives us a very distinctive pitch which goes down very well with potential customers. In our experience of bringing the system to market we talk to many, many organizations; from the global car manufacturers, the finance houses, all the way down to the small global manufacturer. One of the strong bits of feedback was that those who are already using video are looking for a better way of doing it. They do not want to be investing in very expensive bits of equipment that they have to host in their data centers and have the skilled IT people to, to manage and run. They are really looking for something that is much simpler, much more affordable, and a cloud based story goes down very well.
CEOCFO: What was the hardest part of the technology to put together? Mr. Loney: That is a difficult question. In building all of these systems there are so many different elements. First of all, you need to put together a great team. You need to have that vision, put the user at the center of that, and then build the system around that vision. There have been many bits of technology that been difficult. However, we have a great team, and most of these things are engineering challenges, and they just work through them.
CEOCFO: Why should investors and people in the investment community pay attention to StarLeaf today? Mr. Loney: We have a solution that delivers great value. As I mentioned at the outset, we are all about empowering people to change the way in which they work for the better. The use of these collaboration tools can really make a difference to how people work. Within our business we have teams spread around the world, we have all of the right bits of engineering; we have sales marketing geographically dispersed. Without the technology we just could not work in the way that we do. It brings great efficiency. We have a number of home workers, and whilst in many cases home workers feel disconnected from the organization, our home workers use video day and day out. We do not really view them as home workers; they are just there somewhere on video; whether they be in another country or a different office or even in the adjoining office.
CEOCFO: What should people remember most when they read about StarLeaf?
Mr. Loney:
That is a tricky one. I
would hope that everyone will actually come and have a look at what we have
to offer and visit our website www.starleaf.com. One of the really great
things about what we do is that it is very easy for someone to try us out.
We have software solutions and it is as simple as coming along to our
website, filling in a few details, and they can be trying it in minutes, and
really see for themselves how this can change the way that they personally
do business, or how their organization does business. It really has gotten
to the point where it is trivial to try us out and see it for yourself. One
of the strengths / weaknesses with what we do is “seeing is believing”. It
is all very well talking to people and presenting, but there is not
substitute for seeing it in action for yourself. These days it is really
easy, and any of your readers who would like to come and try out the
software with the service, we would be very happy to give them a free trial. |
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“One of the really great things about what we do is that it is very easy for someone to try us out. We have software solutions and it is as simple as coming along to our website, filling in a few details, and they can be trying it in minutes, and really see for themselves how this can change the way that they personally do business, or how their organization does business. It really has gotten to the point where it is trivial to try us out and see it for yourself.”- Mark Loney |
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